The Worth Ryder Art Gallery and the UC Berkeley Department of Art Practice are pleased to announce a retrospective exhibition of the paintings of Professor Emerita of Painting Katherine Sherwood. Recognized as a dedicated and inspiring teacher, and known for her advocacy and research as a scholar of Disability Studies, Sherwood, who retired this year, has left a lasting legacy at the department.

Katherine Sherwood is a leading Bay Area artist whose bold, painterly, figurative work is an embodiment of her ideals as a feminist, her experience as a person with a disability, and her journey as a healer. This exhibition will trace the evolution of her practice, beginning with her rarely-seen Aggressive Women series created for her MFA exhibition at SFAI in 1979. These oil paintings, rendered in a compelling faux-naive style on found framed panels, and reflecting her immersion in punk culture, depict female Catholic saints and dominatrixes appropriated from personal ads.

Her mid-career works reflect her experience with disability — in 1997, at the age of 44, she had a massive stroke. Teaching herself to paint again was essential to her healing process. Incorporating images of cerebral angiograms of her own brain, as well as other medical imagery and magical symbols, these works use colorful abstract passages of poured paint and collage to explore the process of healing.

Prominently featured in the exhibition will be the work of ten painters mentored by Sherwood over the course of her 40 year career. These artists each have fascinatingly diverse practices, but, seen together, they reflect a set of concerns that enriches and extends Sherwood’s practice.

Please join us for an Opening Reception on Wednesday, October 19th, from 4 – 7 pm.